TOPEKA — When something works, keep doing it.
That’s exactly what the Emporia High football team did Friday night against Highland Park, using a bruising running game to simply overwhelm the winless Scots, 62-18.
Emporia rushed for 314 yards and seven touchdowns in the game, including 178 yards in the first half when EHS out-gained Highland Park on offense, 221-8, to build a 41-0 halftime lead.
“We just set the tempo early,” EHS coach Bill Lowe. “We told the kids that we were going to come out and run power right at them, and we were able to do that in the first half.”
At no time did the Spartans impose their will more than on the very first drive of the game.
Emporia got the ball at its own 44-yard line and promptly drove 56 yards to the end zone on six rushes, all by senior running back Edd Noonan. In fact, Lowe said after the game that the Spartans ran the same play all six times, giving EHS the 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game.
“The coaches were just like, ‘Run it again, run it again,’” said Noonan, who finished the game with 187 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. “Coach Lowe talked all week about coming out and running the ball with power, and they couldn’t stop it.”
The Spartans struck just as quickly for their second score of the night, getting a blocked punt for a touchdown when Mark Kolmer blasted through the Highland Park line to stuff Stefan Andrews’ kick, which Josh Maguire scooped up and returned 15 yards to pay dirt. It was the third blocked punt for EHS this season.
“Coach Lowe was on me the whole week of practice to get through there and get a block,” Kolmer said. “He told me ‘You’re going to do it if you go all out.’ I just went straight up the middle and I got it.”
All told, Emporia (4-2, 4-1 Centennial League) scored touchdowns its first five possessions. Noonan added touchdowns runs of 19 and 3 yards while quarterback Taylor Euler tossed a 24-yard TD pass to Brandon Childs, making it 35-0 with 7:08 left before halftime.
“Our offense has been pretty good all year,” Noonan said. “For the most part, we’ve been pretty consistent, and we really were in the first half.”
Emporia set its season high in points scored when Euler took it in from 19 yards out with 24 seconds left in the half, which made it 41-0 after the extra-point attempt missed.
Meanwhile, the Emporia defense smothered Highland Park’s duo of quarterback Cortney Caraway and running back James Caraway.
Cortney completed just 1 of 9 passes for 10 yards and James was limited to three yards on three carries in the first two quarters, as Highland Park gained just 8 yards on 16 plays in the first half. The Scots (0-6, 0-6) were held without a first down in the first half.
“I thought we executed well and played hard in the first half offensively and defensively,” Lowe said. “I was real proud of the way we came out. We had a tough week of practice and we were more determined than ever after last week’s loss, and I think it showed in the first half.”
Out of the locker room after halftime, Kolmer scored on a 6-yard TD run that made it 48-0, and the Highland Park finally showed some life. James Caraway scored on an 81-yard scamper on the Scots’ first play from scrimmage of the second half, making it 48-6 after the Spartans blocked the extra point.
Noonan answered right back with a 65-yard TD run on Emporia’s next offensive play to make it 55-6, and the Spartans emptied their bench after that.
Highland Park scored twice more against Emporia’s second- and third-teamers. James Caraway actually got loose for another long TD run, this one for 54 yards, and Cortney Caraway tossed a touchdown pass to Chris Manahan with 4 minutes left in the game. James Caraway’s big second half gave him 152 yards on nine carries for the game.
Meanwhile, the Spartans added one last touchdown of their own when backup quarterback Bryce Childs scored on a 2-yard keeper with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.
“They (the EHS backups) learned a lot about the speed of the game and how things go at the varsity level,” Lowe said. “For our young guys, that was a big awakening for them, but it’s great anytime they can get in a varsity game. They now realize they have to play hard no matter what the score is.”
Emporia can now turn its attention to District play, with the immediate task being a road game at Wichita Heights next Friday.
“This week, we were going to get on the train and get it rolling, and now we’ve got to feed it with coal,” Kolmer said. “We’re going to go play and have fun and see what we can do.”
Emporia 62, Highland Park 18
Friday at Topeka
Emporia 28 13 21 0 — 62
Highland Park 0 0 6 12 — 18
First Quarter
Emp — Edd Noonan 1 run (Blaze Witten kick)
Emp — Josh Maguire 15 blocked punt return (Witten kick)
Emp — Noonan 19 run (Witten kick)
Emp — Brandon Childs 24 pass from Taylor Euler (Witten kick)
Second Quarter
Emp — Noonan 3 run (Witten kick)
Emp — Euler 19 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
Emp — Mark Kolmer 6 run (Witten kick)
HP — James Caraway 81 run (kick blocked)
Emp — Noonan 65 run (Witten kick)
Emp — Bryce Childs 2 run (Witten kick)
Fourth Quarter
HP — J. Caraway 54 run (kick failed)
GAME STATISTICS
Emp HP
First downs 17 8
Rushes-yards 56-314 18-162
Comp-att-int 4-4-0 7-20-4
Passing yards 69 73
Total plays-yards 60-383 38-235
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 3-15 6-27
Punts-avg 3-34.7 4-30.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Emporia: Edd Noonan 21-187, Mark Kolmer 11-67, Taylor Euler 7-37, Jacob Loucks 10-15, Logan Gaskill 5-6, Bryce Childs 2-2; HP: James Caraway 9-152, Cortney Caraway 5-17, LaZerrick Richardson 3-(-5), James Dickson 1-(-2).
Passing — Emporia: Euler 3-3-0 62, Childs 1-1-0 7; HP: C. Caraway 7-20-4 73.
Receiving — Emporia: Harrison Stone 2-36, Brandon Childs 1-24, Jared Parks 1-7; HP: J. Caraway 4-36, Chris Manahan 1-14, Elijah Tyree 1-13, Richardson 1-10.
Punting — Emporia: Brandon Childs 2-34.0, Loucks 1-36.0; HP: Stefan Andrews 4-30.0.
Records — Emporia (4-2, 4-1 Centennial League), HP (0-6, 0-6).